


Roses are romantic, right?

by OniX



Category: The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: M/M, something silly, with flowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 01:12:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4984132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OniX/pseuds/OniX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark is safely back on Earth, but he has a situation. With Chris Beck. While worrying about nightmares and flashbacks to Mars, Mark decides to deal with this like an adult. Which means leaving flowers on Chris' desk. Namelessly. Uh, he tried?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses are romantic, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by one of otpprompts.tumblr.com prompts but I lost the post. My first the Martian-fic so if you think the characterization is horribly off, please tell :D

After Mark got back on Earth, he had a lot on his plate. He had to deal with NASA being apeshit crazy about him and his health and practically every country's media was at his heels on any steps he took outside NASA's buildings. When he got a permission, he attended a press conference about him. It was wild. And once he found out his friends had come to get him against NASA's orders, he got busy defending them with every breath he took. 

On top of that, he had a situation with Dr. Chris Beck. He had been taking care of Mark even on the ground, refusing to leave him alone, but Mark was only thankful of that. He wanted his friends around. And Beck - or Chris nowadays - was becoming the best friend he had. They talked a lot, sometimes for hours, and he stayed by Mark's side when he was pretty much tied to bed. Chris didn't laugh or look even tiny bit dazed when Mark found himself crying while talking about his time on Mars, but he didn't look like he pitied Mark either, he just sat there with a slight frown and listened. He nodded every now and then and when the words got Mark all choked up, he put his hand on Mark's shoulder. 

"You know", he started and Mark reminded himself Chris was a doctor and not a poet, "you know, I don't think anyone else could have survived that. But you did. A year and a half on your own, I mean, damn, Mark... that's going to leave a... well, mark." 

Mark laughed. 

"Shut it. What I mean is, it's okay, man. But you've got to focus on the miracle that you survived", Chris said, face back to serious after the first sentence. 

"I know", Mark said and wiped his face to his sleeve. Speaking to people was overwhelming, usually, but it was easier with Chris. And the rest of the crew, but especially Chris. He had been the first one he saw after so long, the first one who he heard speaking without a radio, too. And he hadn't left his side. Chris pushed a Kleenex to his hands. 

"I forgot these existed", Mark said after staring at it for a moment. He used it to blow his nose anyway. 

"You'll get used to it soon", Chris said, still no pity in his voice. Some of the doctors that came to see him talked to him like he could break any second and it made Mark want to fly right back to Mars. Well, not really, of course, but anyway. 

"Beck... have I told you how much I love you lately? Because I love you a lot", Mark said and Chris' always-so-serious expression cracked to reveal a smile. 

"Yeah, you've told me", he said. Mark was pretty sure his smile was the warmest thing he had felt since he came back from that goddamned frozen planet. Considering the fact that he was currently under, like, three blankets with the temperature up, it said a lot. Maybe it was because Chris was the first he saw, maybe it was something Mark didn't want to deal with just yet, but it made his stomach curl. In the best way possible. His stomach had grumbled a lot in his last days in Mars, kept alive by the fucking potatoes, but this was different. 

Mark didn't want to talk about Mars anymore. He also didn't want to think about all these things he was feeling, so instead he decided to ask something he had wanted to know ever since he woke up alone on another planet. 

"Chris... how'd you all do? When you thought I was dead?" Mark asked. It probably was a bit insensitive, but fuck it. He knew them well enough to know Lewis at least blamed herself, but he wanted to know how bad it was. It had to have affected them somehow. 

"Lewis... Melissa, she stayed behind almost too long looking for you. And when they told us you were alive, she didn't even smile. Just said "I left him there" and walked away. She was bad", Chris told. "Beth cried a lot. But she... she comforted me. And when we went back, she was so determined to get you back... we all were, of course, but she didn't even sleep some days but stayed up planning with Martinez." 

"Vogel?" Mark asked. 

"Didn't talk much. He worked a lot, though, probably manned the ship himself. Martinez tried to keep it together by joking, of course, but to be honest, we cried in my lab all the time." 

" _We_ cried?" 

Chris looked down. "It was my fault as much as Melissa's. I told her to... to stop looking. I said you were dead even though... the body temperature... I should have -" 

"Beck. No. It was right to get out and get her in too. There was no reason for you to believe I was alive. You couldn't have known about my superhero abilities and immortality", Mark said and smirked. "I mean, you should have let me Iron Man my way to Hermes." He just hoped he could get that look off of Chris' face. He didn't want to see it. The guilt made him want to pull the covers over his head and never look at Chris again, he looked heartbroken. 

"I still think it was better for me to come and get you. I couldn't have gone much longer without seeing you with my own eyes", Chris said, and the look left. He opened his mouth, but didn't say anything else for a moment. "Mark... I'm really happy to have you back." And to Mark's surprise, he leaned over Mark and wrapped his arms around him. Mark's mouth hung open for a second before he quickly returned the hug. 

Seriously, hugs were the best. The best. Especially after being alone for so long, hugs were gifts sent from heaven. Mark closed his eyes and let his chin drop against Chris' shoulder. Every touch felt good but Chris had kept his distance, for whatever reason. Maybe to be professional, who knew. At least Mark now knew it wasn't because Chris was afraid of Beth getting jealous, as he had originally thought. Chris had told they decided to stay as friends after all. They had been lonely and sad and yeah, they had ended up together, but Chris had told neither really liked the other like that. Mark could have bet something really expensive on them having feelings for each other, but then again he wasn't that experienced with relationships. Working to get chosen for a mission in Mars had kept him busy for years. 

Chris had to leave soon after. Mark didn't want to be alone, so he called his parents. They had come to welcome him back on Earth and stayed for a few days, but they had left already. Mark felt strong enough to get out of bed for a longer time, but the doctors insisted for him to stay a little while longer. But seriously, he was going to walk to cafeteria to eat tomorrow, fuck the doctors. He survived Mars, he could decide when he was going to get out of bed. 

When he was finally clear to move around on his own, he didn't expect Chris to be with him so often. But Chris found him sitting in the inside garden or playing with the therapy animals more often than anyone else, and joined him. Mark figured he was still guilty. After a while he figured Chris just liked his company. And they did get along well, had since their first meeting, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. The rest of the crew spent time with him too, but no one as much as Chris. Not that Mark complained. He liked cracking jokes and teasing Chris, who just smiled and shook his head and told him to be careful with his ribs. He liked it a bit too much, to be honest. He knew he shouldn't feel this way when he looked at Chris, but he couldn't help it. He just wanted to see Chris smile. 

It took him a while to admit it to himself, but he was starting to like Chris. Like that. It was a bit pathetic, really, he was a grown man after all. He hadn't mentioned in his logs that he would have been as happy to see a green martian king as a green martian queen, but it didn't change his sexuality. Excuse him if he didn't want the whole goddamn world to know about his sexual orientation. It wasn't their business. Chris knew, though, as did the rest of the crew. And he knew Chris had similar feelings about sexuality. It made it even worse, to know he might have an actual shot. But after a few weeks of pining and being sad about it, Mark decided he was going to handle this as a grown, adult person... 

...and leave a flower on Chris' desk. Yeah, what a charmer Mark was, he knew, but really, he had been too busy studying to have relationships. There had been a few, but they had all ended pretty quickly, especially the older he got. But a flower seemed like a good start. He expected Chris to mention it so he could maybe start a conversation about it, but Chris never said anything. So Mark did what every other adult would do, and left another flower on his desk. A rose this time. Roses were romantic, right? When he still didn't hear about it from Chris, he made it his mission to leave a different flower on his desk every damn day. He either picked one from the gardens or bought one (which meant sending someone to buy it since the reporters were camped near the exits of the facility), but he got his hands on a different flower than yesterday every damn day. 

Sneaking into Chris' office was a little more tricky. Luckily he could always say he was here to hang out if he had time so things didn't get weird. He learned the times when Chris was out quickly, but matching it with a time when no one else was around either wasn't so easy. Most of the time he managed and placed the flower in the same place, to the closest left corner looking from the door. Sometimes he had to say he was there to see if Chris was in or that he was leaving something for him, but every day he managed. It went on for three weeks. By the end of the first one Chris still didn't talk about it, but he did put the flowers into a vase by the window. The first time Mark saw the vase he almost burst out laughing. 

The three weeks didn't do anything but make it worse. He fell deeper and deeper. It wasn't like he hadn't had feelings for Chris before, he just had thought he had no chance with Chris liking Beth, so he had kept himself as uninvested in Chris as he could, but now that was all out the window. He didn't have much time to think about it with the media still hunting for information and ready to rip him apart with questions if they as much as glimpsed him. Mark also suffered from nightmares and Chris told him he was having panic attacks. Mark obviously knew he was having them, kind of difficult to ignore believing he was literally back on Mars and shaking so badly he couldn't hold anything, but he didn't know they were panic attacks. In hindsight, he probably should have guessed from all the panic that was involved with them. He tried to hide them the best he could, but because he spent more and more time with people, someone was bound to see one of them some time. Mark was happy it ended up being Chris. 

Mark fell asleep. He woke up from a nightmare, but Mars still didn't leave him. He opened his eyes, but he was still there. He could hear the Hab croaking and moaning and sand was piling in and he couldn't breathe, he knew the potatoes were dead and there was nitrogen in the air and - 

"Mark! Mark, hey!" someone called. He was imagining, wasn't he? He was alone in a sandstorm. Red sand everywhere, or was it blood? There was a pole hurling through the air towards Mark and it was going to impale him, he knew - 

"Watney! Look at me." 

"Beck?" Mark croaked out. He reached out even though it meant unwrapping one hand from around his head. A warm, strong hand grabbed his. 

"Yeah, I'm here. Mark, come on, look at me", Chris said. He was leaning one knee on the bed and - 

The bed? 

"Yeah, that's it. Come back here", Chris said. His voice was soft and calm, but he was worried. Mark could see it. The room was dim already even though the curtains were open and flapping in the light breeze coming through the open window. For a moment Mark allowed himself to be relieved it wasn't the Hab and a sandstorm, as stupid as it was. 

"Do you need a hug?" Chris asked. Mark realized he was still gripping Chris' hand like a madman. 

"Yes, please", Mark mumbled. Chris sat on the bed next to him and after Mark let go of his hand, wrapped his arms around him. Tightly. Mark leaned against him but he didn't dare to close his eyes yet. For a long moment they just sat there in complete silence. 

"Why didn't you tell it was this bad?" Chris asked, still not loosening his grip. Mark dared to close his eyes now, with the arms still tightly around him. 

"It's stupid. But it feels so real, Beck", he confessed. Chris rubbed his back. 

"Yeah. You should tell your therapist, they might be able to help. But you don't have to be alone with this, Mark", Chris said. He pulled away a bit but one hand stayed firmly on Mark's back. Thank God for that. 

"No. Yeah, I've had enough of being alone. Beck, about those flowers..." 

Okay, maybe it wasn't the best time to do this, but as he said, he had had enough of it. Chris' eyes widened a bit. 

"Oh." 

"Yeah. I tried to be really clever and get you to start talking about it but fuck, Beck, you haven't as much as mentioned the fucking flowers", Mark said. "I mean, flowers on your desk every day that you keep in a vase? And you don't tell your BFF about it? What kind of bonehead are you?" 

"Bonehead is a stupid insult. Humans have skulls. Of course my head is made of bone, so is yours", Chris grumbled. Mark stated at him for good ten seconds before he burst out laughing. 

"Sound logic. I can't really argue with that", he said. Chris' smile was so bright it almost made Mark want to look away, but he couldn't. And soon it faltered. 

"So, uh... now the conversation is opened", Chris said, unsure. 

"Yeah, well, do I need to spell it out for you? I'll write you a card with the next flower", Mark said. 

"Don't be so mean, Mark. But, uh, how about you give me that flower in person so I can take you out after?" Chris' voice never shook but this was the closest to it that Mark had ever heard. And he talked very quietly, too. Was he shy? He was definitely being shy! It was adorable. 

"Okay, but... where are you going to take me? I mean, there's a cafeteria in building one. Then there's a cafeteria in building two. And then -" Mark started. 

"Shut up, Watney. Do you ever shut up? They tell me you didn't shut up in Mars either", Chris ended in a sigh, and Mark smirked. 

"Well, Beck, make me." 

He didn't expect to be making out with Chris any time soon, but he had been wrong before. He also didn't expect Chris' lips to be so soft. To be honest, Mark was starting to believe he had no idea what was going on, ever, but if it led to this, he wasn't bothered. He let Chris hold him closer than he had ever held him, and he let his lips explore Chris' like had wanted to for so long. Keeping his eyes closed didn't feel so bad either with Chris' arms around him and his lips and tongue keeping him occupied. The rest of the night he slept considerably better with Chris' warmth right by his side. 

The following day he left the flower on Chris' desk despite his request. He left a card with it, as promised. 

_So, cafeteria 1, 2, 4, 6 or 7?_


End file.
